


Drink of Water

by Shippy-Things (seraphic_gate)



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Skinny Dipping, shirtless prickleboar hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 03:30:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8828671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphic_gate/pseuds/Shippy-Things
Summary: For only a few days out of the year, Elysia gets unbearably hot.  Sorey and Mikleo try to keep cool, and go swimming for the first time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally written this back in SorMik week for "water" but I got stuck and ended up writing "Cleansing of the Heart" instead. Anyway, I gave it an ending and decided to upload it now even though that was months ago. Never enough SorMik fluff.

It was the hottest time of year in Elysia, the few weeks when the clouds cleared and summer sun shone on the hills. The elder seraphim who lived in the hidden town thought very little of it, having experienced much hotter days in their ageless time. But for Sorey and Mikleo, it was a unique experience to feel so warmed by the sun.

Sorey ran through the fields outside of Elysia beating prickleboars back with his blunt-edged sword in his bare feet, half his clothes discarded. “You're gonna be dinner,” he sang to the prickleboar that taunted him, sword in hand. “Salty sweet dinner!”

He turned his head up to Mikleo, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. Mikleo was sitting on a rock above, reading a book, still fully clothed, and doing a good job of at least looking cool. “Hey, you wanna help or what?”

Mikleo refused to look up from his book. “Yeah, I'll pass.”

Sorey grumbled under his breath and continued his “hunting” practice. Most human hunters probably wouldn't talk to their game so much.

Mikleo raised his head at all the noise Sorey was making. Between the prickeboar's squeals and Sorey's smack talk, he couldn't follow a sentence. Sorey's dance around the pig in just his pants—no shirt, no shoes--was entertaining enough, though. Mikleo chuckled to himself at Sorey's hair all stuck up on one side with sweat. He watched him closely, thinking maybe he could memorize a move or two and really nail Sorey the next time he picked a fight.

The only problem was that Mikleo didn't move like a prickleboar, so observing Sorey's tactics approaching the prickleboar would only help to a certain degree. Sorey wasn't aware of how his stance and delivery differed depending on his opponent, but that was part of his unique genius, loathe as Mikleo was to admit it.

It was too hot to think clearly. Mikleo leapt down from his position above, the tails of his jacket flapping behind him, and landed on the ground behind Sorey. Sorey was creeping up on an evasive prickleboar. Mikleo sighed. “Let this one go, it doesn't want to fight.”

The prickleboar saw its chance to escape and squealed as it retreated. Sorey turned to Mikleo, panting for breath. “Aw, but I'm low on boar meat.”

“I'll help you hunt again when it’s less unbearably hot. Maybe at night or something.” Mikleo ran his fingers through his hair. It was hot to the touch from being under the sun for so long. He looked around for some place with shade. There were very few prospects out here in the open field.

Sorey slipped his sword back into its scabbard behind his back. “Since when does a water seraph have to worry about being hot?”

“I can apply my element to my skin if I want to, but it's a pain. Makes my clothes stick.”

“Well, could you at least make us some ice pops?”

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“Uh! But you do it all the time!”

Mikleo studied Sorey as he stood there catching his breath, sucking big, clumsy gulps of air into his lungs. It'd been since about this same time last year that Mikleo had seen Sorey without his shirt on, and he was mystified at how much he had changed.

Sorey wasn't just taller. His mass had expanded. His arms and shoulders were thick. His chest and back had these new shapes to them that moved under the skin with him as he stretched and limbered himself out.

“Why don't you take your jacket off at least?” Sorey jumped up and down on the balls of his feet, as if he wasn't tired and hot enough yet. He had to work off the pent up energy he’d built up from fighting prickleboars. “You've got to be burning up in that!”

Mikleo grimaced. No wonder he 's winning so much lately. Sorey's arms and legs were like clubs now compared to his own.

“Oh, I got an even better idea,” Sorey said, laughing to himself. “You know that waterfall on the far side of the ruins entrance? We should totally swim in it!”

“Swim?” Mikleo wasn't sure why Sorey was so excited by the prospect. “Do you know how?”

“Isn't it easy?” he answered. “I thought it was like an instinct or something.”

Mikleo shook his head. “Well, I guess your water seraph can keep you from drowning even if you don't figure it out.”

“My water seraph?” Sorey repeated it with a shit-eating grin on his face and poked Mikleo in the shoulder.

Mikleo groaned and wished he hadn't phrased it that way. He flicked Sorey's finger away from himself. “You could use a bath, in any case. You smell.”

\- - -

The pool Sorey referred to was an old memory. On one of their childhood explorations, Sorey and Mikleo had climbed up through the mountains and discovered a waterfall and a lake. 

Although looking at it now, Mikleo realized it was no more than a trickle of icy run off that pooled into a depression in the rocks below. But to him, as a young water seraph, and Sorey, as a curious human child, who had only seen the shallow fountain in Elysia, and who had even only bathed in buckets and tubs, the idea of something deep enough to swim in was as exciting as exploring the ruins.

They realized back then that it was too cold for swimming. Even Mikleo turned blue after a few minutes the first time they had tried. They would make the trek together and dare each other how long they could keep their feet in the freezing water. Mikleo always won, until Sorey got old enough to understand that a water seraph had a distinct advantage over him, and stopped daring him to go. Since then, they hadn't thought very much about the pool.

But there it was on the hottest day of the year in Elysia. No shroud of mist, no icy tendrils. Just calm, clear water.

“Dare you to jump in,” Sorey said, nudging Mikleo in the side with his elbow. He'd put his black undershirt back on, but his arms were still bare. Mikleo still couldn't believe how stocky they had gotten. Twice the size of his own.

“You first.”

“Okay, but if I do it, you have to make me ice pops. Blue ones!”

“Deal.”

Sorey pulled off his shirt again, then began to unbuckle his belt.

Mikleo balked. “Are you taking your pants off?”

“Well, yeah. Can't swim with clothes on, right?”

“Um, I think you can.”

“But the clothes would get all wet!”

“But, I mean,” Mikleo looked away as Sorey continued undressing without paying any heed to him. “What if someone sees you?”

“All the way out here?” Sorey made an incredulous sound, blowing air through his teeth. “And even if they did, what's the big deal?”

Mikleo turned his back and kept his eyes down as Sorey pulled his pants off. “You don't think it's a big deal, but maybe other people do.”

Sorey stopped just before pulling the last essential article of clothing down. “Are you embarrassed? Look, you don't have to take your clothes off just because I'm doing it.”

“I'm not embarrassed,” he said. “I'm good, I'll do it.” He turned slightly to remove his clothing. When was the last time they took a bath together? Probably ten years old, when they could still both fit in the big tub at Gramps’ house. Not that long ago by seraphim standards. He tried to think of it that way, and began to unbutton his clothes.

“Okay, then!” Sorey was excited and not even the least bit aware of his nakedness. He stood with the same confident posture and goofy grin as always.

“You still have to jump in first, though. If you want ice pops.” Maybe if he could get Sorey into the water then this wouldn't be so awkward.

Sorey wagged his finger at Mikleo. “You just better start cooking those pops.”

“You don't cook an--”

Mikleo sighed as he was cut off by Sorey's battle cry and then a big splash as he cannon balled into the pool. He came up for air, screaming.

“Ah! It's so cold!”

\- - -

The pool was cold, but not so much as it had been when they tried it as children. In the hot sun, it was refreshing. Mikleo leaned against a rock in the water, eating his ice pop.

It was a mystery how Sorey never ran out of energy. He kept climbing on rocks, higher and higher each time, just so he could jump in. Every time he jumped, he thought of a new ridiculous pose to strike as he was falling. Without saying anything, Mikleo moved the water to make sure he didn’t hit the bottom and hurt himself.

All those silly naked poses. Soon Mikleo kind of forgot entirely about whatever was making him nervous before.

In spite of Sorey's antics, submerging himself in the pool gave him a sense of calm like he had never felt. Maybe because he could sync with his element, or maybe just because he could relax there. Either way, as the sun set, he found himself wishing he could stay. But Sorey would likely get hypothermia in the water here without the sun to warm him up.

Sorey swam back to the edge of the pool. He propped himself up beside Mikleo, leaning against the rock. He was breathing heavily, although that wasn't unusual, seeing as how he'd been running and jumping for hours now. He sighed and rubbed his upper arm as he rotated it, wincing.

“Geez Sorey,” Mikleo groaned. “Did you hurt yourself on the rocks?”

“Nah, I think I pulled it earlier when I was fighting those prickleboars.”

Mikleo circled around him in the water and squeezed his fingers around Sorey's arm. The muscle there was firm and flexed under the skin as Sorey tried to pull away. Mikleo huffed and grabbed it again. “Sorey, let me fix it!”

“What are you going to do?”

“Healing artes to start with.” He rolled his eyes. “Here, it'll heal up better if I rub it a little first.”

Sorey turned his head away as Mikleo began to rub the arm with both hands. He focused his powers into it and released a simple spell to speed up the body's natural healing process. “There, now let's put ice on it.” He conjured a bubble of water from the pool and froze it solid in a flash of light. He grasped the chunk of ice and smacked in on the stone to break it up, then pressed it against Sorey's arm.

“Ah, that's cold,” Sorey said.

“Here, hold it in place.”

Sorey begrudgingly did as he was told.

Mikleo smiled. “Go ahead and get ready to go if you want. I'm going to swim one more time.”

“Okay, sure.”

\- - -

Sorey held the makeshift ice pack to his arm. He knew he shouldn't have been so surprised, but Mikleo was just like a fish! He could swim so well even though he had never done it before. Sorey had accomplished swimming as more of a paddling and flopping around kind of thing. But Mikleo glided through it just like one of the little fish that swam upstream when the ice melted in the spring.

Under the water Mikleo looked completely silver. When he came up for air, he broke the surface with a splash, throwing his hair out of his face, spraying water up into the sunset skies. His pale hair and sparkling skin took on the color of pink and violet clouds.

He swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. Smiling, he wiped droplets out of his eyes. Sorey grinned back at him without thinking much about it, but for some reason that made Mikleo frown and turn away again.

“What?” Sorey always wanted to know what it was making Mikleo's smile go away so abruptly like it always did.

“You're looking at me weird.”

“Me? No I'm not.” Sorey's eyes had been glued on him since he'd started swimming again, but not in a weird way, or anything.

“Yeah, you are. You're looking at me like I’m a roast prickleboar.”

“I'm not looking at you any kind of way.” And just to prove it, he averted his eyes. But that only worked for a second or two, because he looked right back. “Okay, I am looking at you, but not in any kind of way!”

Mikleo just groaned. “Try to dry off and put your clothes on.”

Sorey squeezed as much water as he could out of the tips of his hair, then became distracted by what Mikleo was doing. He was using his artes to pull the water away from his bare skin. Sorey had seen this trick before, but not to this extent. The two of them used to splash around in the fountain back home, but it only reached up to their ankles.

Mikleo's hand pulled water away from himself in beads like a magnet. The droplets rolled over his slender hips and legs like rain falling in whatever direction he wanted it to go.

“That's amazing,” Sorey said, mouth gaping in awe. “Can you do me or is it something you can only do on yourself?”

“W-well,” Mikleo stammered. Again, Sorey found himself perplexed by Mikleo's change in attitude. He covered his mouth. His face was slightly pink even though now with the sun going down, it was getting chilly. “It's not a matter of whether I can do it or not so much as... I uh...”

“What?”

“Well, I can feel it, you know? What the water is doing.”

Sorey scratched his head. “I don't get it.”

“Well imagine me... you know, touching you--” he cut himself off by clearing his throat. “It's--”

“Mikleo, what is it?”

“It'd be like giving you a sponge bath, okay?” Mikleo finally spat out. He seemed angry now, with his arms all rigid and his face red. “A-and that's gross!”

“Oh, I get it.” But he didn't, really. Feeling Mikleo touching him, like before when he was rubbing his arm, sounded nice. Although it would make sense if Mikleo thought touching him in some places was gross. His human body did a lot of things that Mikleo's didn't. Like all the sweat, not to even mention the gas and waste issues. Why would someone who never had to poop want to touch somebody who did it at least twice a day?

“What are you thinking about over there?” 

Sorey looked up, and Mikleo had already put most of his clothes on. He wasn't the magical silver fish anymore.

“Nothing.” He turned away. Mikleo probably didn't want to look at him naked either, and that's why it had been weird earlier

“Are you really that upset? Fine, I'll do it.”

“You don't have to do it if you think I'm gross.”

“I don't think you're--” Mikleo was flustered again, stammering. “W-where would you get an idea like that?”

“Because you just said 'that's gross.'”

“B-because-- That's not why!”

“And earlier you were making a grossed-out face at me and you said I needed a bath.”

“N-no I was just joking!” He folded his arms over his chest and scoffed. “Geez Sorey, I didn't think you were so sensitive about everything.” But his face was still flushed red and Sorey knew enough to understand that meant something. “Why would I think you're gross, anyway? You're so dumb sometimes.”

“Because,” Sorey said. “I’m human?”

Mikleo turned back toward him and glared with anger Sorey hadn't seen in his eyes in a while. Real anger, not just playful annoyance. “Don't you dare say that!” he growled and stomped up to him, clenching his fists. “Don't ever say something like that again Sorey, don't you ever!”

“It's okay though,” Sorey said, slinking back. Mikleo seemed ten feet tall right now somehow even though he was so short. “I mean, humans are kinda gross with all our smells and--”

“Don't say that!”

“Why are you so mad?”

He couldn't figure that part out before Mikleo rushed and tackled him, gritting his teeth as he pushed him to the ground. Sorey looked up at him, wide-eyed and bewildered. “W-what? Mikleo! Why?”

“Nobody ever thinks you're gross, Sorey, especially not me!” Mikleo had a weird way of showing this though, holding him down in the dirt. Sorey was surprised at how easily he pulled it off. He thought he'd been getting stronger lately, while Mikleo's physique was pretty much the same as always. Never more obvious had that been than now, as he was still completely naked and pressed into the ground with Mikleo on top of him, straddled across his hips. “Don't say that, don't think that!”

“But then why--” Sorey groaned under Mikleo's strength. “About the water, then?”

Mikleo laxed up and his eyes softened. “That's a different matter all together.”

Sorey pushed himself up underneath him so that he was holding Mikleo on his lap. “How is it?”

“Just,” Mikleo shook his head and lifted his hand into the air. “Just shut up and let me do this.”

Mikleo closed his eyes to concentrate. Sorey began to feel the strange, tickling sensation of water being drawn out of his hair, away from his skin. Mikleo even pulled out the little bit of water that had gotten stuck in his ear. It sent a shiver through him. He sort of wished he'd gotten water in both his ears so he could feel that again.

It felt as good as when Mikleo brushed his hair when he was trimming it for him, as nice as when he nodded off against his shoulder while reading a book late at night.

When he was clean and dry, he stood up. “Thanks.” He smiled, Mikleo smiled back. Then he remembered that he had no clothes on. “Ah!” He scrambled to throw on his pants and then his shirt. With the sun down, it was getting colder in the mountains. 

He faced Mikleo once fully dressed, grinning. “Let’s go home.” They turned toward Elysia and started walking.

“Did it feel weird?” Mikleo asked him.

“It was kinda relaxing.”

“Oh.”

“We should come back tomorrow if it’ still warm!”

“You really like swimming, huh?”

Sorey hummed in agreement. “I hope someday we can swim in the ocean.”

“But the ocean is salty, and I don’t think I’d like the waves.”

“But think about it, water all the way to the horizon, water as far as you can see!”

“Sticky seaweed… brine and sand all over…” 

“Okay fine then, I’ll find you some clear, still water to swim in.” He laughed. “In a spot that’s not so cold.”

“Sorey.” 

Sorey turned toward Mikleo standing beside him. He found him looking to one side, slight blush on his cheeks again. “You aren’t gross.”

“You don’t have to keep reassuring me. I know there are some ways we’ll always be…’’ He didn’t want to say different out loud.

He couldn’t have if he wanted to. Mikleo grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down, while he lifted up on his heels. He pressed his mouth against Sorey’s. 

It was a quick peck, soft lips against his for less than a second, then he was flat on his feet again, looking away as if he hadn’t just done that. 

Sorey stopped with Mikleo still half-wrapped in his arms, and stared for a moment, wide-eyed. He and Mikleo used to give each other little kisses like that all the time when they were little. And some of the seraphim, particularly the women, also kissed them all the time. But Mikleo’s kiss was different, even though it was the same. It felt a lot better than getting water stuck in his ear. 

He closed the circle his arms made around Mikleo and lowered his head to kiss him right back. He didn’t let go quickly as Mikleo had, because it felt better the longer he held it, and there was no reason to.

Mikleo squirmed away from him, heavy breaths filling his small chest like a robin’s and escaping through his nose, flushed all over, eyebrows furrowed as if he couldn’t quite figure out if he liked that or not. He blinked back at him.

“You, you’re not gross,” he said.

Sorey had never been so happy to hear such a far thing from a compliment. “Let’s swim again tomorrow.”

Mikleo smirked and seemed himself again at that. “Sure,” he said. “We’ll bring clothes for swimming in this time, and towels.”

“Aw, but that was half the fun!” 

“I won’t make you ice pops unless you put swim shorts on next time.”

Sorey pouted at that. He wanted to see Mikleo swim naked like a fish again. Then again, it must be special if he only got to see it once, and only him. Maybe he’d ask again next year.

He stole a glance at Mikleo walking beside him and caught him touching his fingers to his lips and smiling.


End file.
